As the tour shifts to the Eternal City, every win feels more meaningful

On Wednesday afternoon, 133 Cardinals representing some 70 countries will gather in the Sistine Chapel to begin the age-old process of selecting the successor to Pope Francis.

Eventually, the Conclave will produce the next leader for 1.4 billion Catholics and, after the signature white smoke emerges, he’ll appear on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

At the same time, a mere four kilometers away, another global selection process will be underway at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Forty-nine of the Top 50 players in the PIF WTA Rankings are scheduled to begin play on Tuesday — only Barbora Krejcikova (back injury) is missing.

All eyes will be on World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, winner of the past two WTA 1000 events, the most recent on the red clay of Madrid, and No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who has won the Rome title three of the past four years.

Here’s a look at some of the leading storylines:

Top 10 at a glance

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (31-5 in 2025): After winning the Madrid title for a third time, confidently eyeing a first title in Rome.

Best Rome result: Finalist 2024.

No. 2 Iga Swit (26-8): The defending champion is looking for some inspiration after as 6-1, 6-1 semifinal loss to Coco Gauff in Madrid.

Best Rome result: Champion 2024, 2022, 2021.

No. 3 Coco Gauff: (19-7) Starting to click on clay after reaching the Madrid final, beating Swiatek, Mirra Andreeva and Belinda Bencic along the way.

Best Rome result: Semifinalist 2024, 2021.

No. 4 Jessica Pegula: (27-8): Won the title on the green clay in Charleston but 2-2 on the red stuff since.

Best Rome result: Quarterfinalist 2021.

No……………… HOW MAN 5 jasmine Paolini: (16-8) Italy’s greatest hope in her sixth main appearance has struggled (2-5) on home turf.

Best Rome result: Round of 32 in 2020

No. 6 Madison Keys: (23-5) Making her 11^th main-draw appearance.

Best Rome result: Finalist 2016, losing to Serena Williams.

No. 7 Andreeva myrrh: (24-6) Semifinalist last year at Roland Garros, looking for a similar breakthrough in Rome.

Best Rome result: Round of 128 in 2024.

No. 8 Zheng Qinwen: (9-7) Only 2-2 on clay so far this year, hoping for a renaissance in Rome.

Best Rome result: Quarterfinalist 2024, 2023.

No. 9 Emma Navarro: (15-10) Lost second match in Madrid to Donna Vekic.

Best Rome result: Round of 64 in 2024.

No. 10 Paula Badosa: (12-7) Withdrew from Madrid with chronic back injury, will again be a game-time decision in Rome.

Best Rome result: Quarterfinalist 2023.

Three first-round matches we can’t wait for

Naomi osaka vs. wild card sara errani

Marketa vondrousova vs. Wang Xinyu

Dayana yastremska vs. Anastasia Potapova

On the outside(ish) looking in

Naomi Osaka comes into Rome with some serious momentum after capturing the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo title in France. It was the first career clay-court title for Osaka, a wild card who defeated Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 6-1, 7-5 in the final. Osaka’s ranking rose six spots this past week to No. 48.

She went 5-0 for the week, her first clay matches since last summer Olympic Games in Paris, when she lost in the first round to Angelique Kerber. It was her first title at any level since collecting her fourth Grand Slam singles crown five years ago at the Australian Open.

Clearly, it’s personal

Three players are using their personal ranking to join the main draw: Petra Kvitova, Bianca Andreescu and Anastasija Sevastova.

Kvitova plays Irina-Camelia Begu, always dangerous on clay. Andreescu gets 20-year-old Italian wildcard Federica Urgesi, while Sevastova meets another Italian, Lucia Bronzetti.

Sevastova wasn’t sure she’d walk unaided again. She was wrong

Roma’s rich history

Chris Evert won the most titles (five) at the Italian Open. Conchita Martinez, Gabriela Sabatini and Serena Williams are the next with four each. Martinez is the only player male or female to win on four consecutive occasions, between 1993 and 1996.

Williams (44) has the most women’s singles match wins in the Open Era, with Conchita Martinez (43) registering the next most. Victoria Azarenka’s 28 are the most of any active player.

Sixteen-year-old Tracy Austin (1979) is the youngest player in the Open Era to win the women’s singles at the Italian Open. Serena, at 34, was the oldest champion, winning the title in 2016. She won the title three times after turning 30.

Only three women have won the titles in Madrid and Rome in the same season — Dinara Safina (2009), Serena Williams (2013) and Iga Swiatek (2024), and all did it as World No. 1. Aryna Sabalenka has the opportunity to match them.

Among players with multiple appearances at the event in the Open Era, Evert holds the best winning percentage at the Italian Open (.923), while Swiatek (.909) has the second-best.

Switching sides

Only a few weeks ago, 17-year-old Tyra Caterina Grant — one of the most promising young players in the world — was playing under the United States colors, but here in Rome she’s representing Italy. She received a wild card and many will be watching her first-round match against a qualifier to be named later.

Grant was born in Rome to an American father and Italian mother and grew up near Milan and trained at the Piatti Academy where Jannik Sinner learned his craft. Grant spent time in Florida at the USTA national campus as well. Grant has won three junior Grand Slam doubles titles and reached the singles semifinals at last year’s French Open. The move has been anticipated for several weeks.

Qualies

Play is Monday and Tuesday and will deliver a dozen players to the main draw.

Top Seeds: No. 1 Katie Volynets, No. 2 Anna Blinkova, No. 3 Zeynep Sonmez, No. 4 Maya Joint, No. 5 Ajla Tomljanovic.

Surprise guest: 35-year-old Alize Cornet. She announced her retirement last year at Roland Garros but returns to action, opposite No. 22 seed Anna Bondar

Keep an eye on …

• Alexandra Eala, the rising 19-year-old Filipina, slides into the main draw with a No. 71 ranking. Eala upset Swiatek in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, then drew her in the second round of Madrid. Eala was up a set and a break before Swiatek began a remarkable comeback.
• Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 35, is still looking for her first win since returning from maternity leave. She’s currently 0-4 after a straight-sets loss to Katie Volynets in Madrid
• Anastasija Sevastova, after lengthy sabbaticals for maternity leave and injury, managed victories over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and No. 23 seed Jelena Ostapenko in Madrid.

2024 leaders

• Jelena Ostapenko landed 150 winners at the Internazionali d’Italia 2024, more than any other player.
• Aryna Sabalenka had the most break points saved (30) and made the most successful drop shots (17). At the same time, she spent more time on court (10 hours and 13 minutes) than any other player
• Coco Gauff won 50 points at net, the highest tally last year.